VANCOUVER – NPA Incumbent City Council Candidate Melissa De Genova and NPA council candidate Rebecca Bligh unveiled the NPA’s child care plan: A Family Friendly Vancouver. The plan addresses the difficulties facing families who need affordable, licensed and safe child care in the City of Vancouver.

“Our NPA team is committed to cutting red tape, waiving fees, and expediting permits to increase child care spaces,” said Melissa De Genova, who is a new mom herself.

Rebecca Bligh, reflecting on her own experience as a mother noted: “finding affordable, licensed and safe child care is difficult for families in Vancouver. Purpose-built child care space provides a valuable and urgently needed amenity to local communities. We need to start treating them that way.”

The NPA plan includes several immediate steps to remove the barriers to building child care facilities:

Waive the costly fees. This begins with eliminating the $42,600 fee charged by the City to approve an “air space parcel”.

Provide incentives. Allow those interested in building child care space to be eligible for the incentives currently offered to rental-only projects (Rental 100).

Put child care in the Fastlane. This means expediting Permits and Fast-tracking projects, especially for non-profit child care centres. This lowers costs and makes spaces available more quickly.

“Affordable and accessible child care has a great impact on Vancouver families. Many parents can’t return to work because they can’t find safe, affordable or licensed child care spaces for their children,” said De Genova.

The NPA plan also calls for adequate child care centres in all 22 Vancouver neighbourhoods and commits to encouraging the placement of child care near transit and encouraging intergenerational connections.